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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179291">Like a Duck To Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loony_Kit/pseuds/Loony_Kit'>Loony_Kit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hargreeves Siblings - Freeform, Healthy Coping Mechanisms, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus gets a pet, Luther is a jerk without meaning to be, Mostly Fluff, Other, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, slight angst at the end</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:40:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loony_Kit/pseuds/Loony_Kit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus finds himself in possession of an egg that needs a little bit of love. Ben helps.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves &amp; The Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Not a Walk in the Park</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t like Klaus was unfamiliar with waking up in odd places, as far as sleeping places went though, the bush he currently found himself in was by far one of the most pleasant, leaves in his hair notwithstanding. It certainly smelled better than the dirty alleyways to which he was accustomed. Klaus would need to make a mental note of this spot. Normally he’d be flushed out of any park he tried to hang out in while high off his ass, but the foliage hid him nicely from any patrolling eyes.</p>
<p>Not to say he didn’t have a bed to go home to, but he wasn’t in the mood to endure the looks of disappointment he was bound to receive from his siblings if he were to return home in this state. They had made the collective decision to try and repair their fractured relationship. Part of that (at least for Klaus) involved getting sober, a daunting task indeed when the cries of the long-suffering dead kept you up at night.</p>
<p>No, if he was going to fall off the wagon, he’d like to do it in peace.</p>
<p>“Ben?”</p>
<p>“Oh good, you’re up…” Ben’s voice called from somewhere outside of his little dome of branches.</p>
<p>“I can do without the snark.”</p>
<p>“You promised me…”</p>
<p>“I know, I know!” Klaus grumbled, madder at himself than anything else. “I just needed to sleep.”</p>
<p>Klaus rolled over onto his hands and knees to remove himself from the bush, the nearby sound of running water was giving him a horrible urge to pee. As comfortable as it was under the bush, getting out was a different matter entirely as every bit of exposed skin seemed to be scratched and poked on the way out. Klaus eventually managed to tumble out from his hiding place, flopping onto his back to stare up at Ben.</p>
<p>“In a bush?”</p>
<p>“Not necessarily here, just in general.” Klaus said with a casual hand wave “The last few nights have been… hard.”</p>
<p>“Well -” Ben was cut off by a loud squawking and furious barking.</p>
<p>“The hell…?” Klaus scrambled to his knees to peer over the top of his shrub. His stomach rolled over when he saw two large dogs in the middle of attacking a much smaller duck. The bird appeared perfectly capable of flying up out of the dogs’ reach, but it seemed steadfast that it wouldn’t abandon a little hole in the line of hedges (of which Klaus’ was included) that encircled a significantly sized pond. It honked and hissed, flapping at the two intruders but wouldn’t budge from its chosen spot.</p>
<p>Klaus cringed when the more aggressive of the two dogs rushed forward chasing the bird deeper into the bush, clearly catching and savaging it. Just more sounds of anguish to add to the collection he supposed. A little too late, a woman with leashes clutched in her hand rushed over and pulled the dog away from the shrub while the other dog cowed at her feet. She forced it to drop the remains of the poor bird it had just mercilessly dispatched. Once secured, she dragged them off guilty.</p>
<p>“Geez, can you say obedience school…” Klaus quipped up at Ben, trying to lighten the mood.</p>
<p>“Hm,” was the only response Ben gave as he glanced around the gruesome scene. He seemed to come to a decision as he walked smoothly through the bush to inspect what had just happened.</p>
<p>“Hey, wait.”</p>
<p>“Come on,” Ben called over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Eww, no! Why?!” Ben ignored Klaus’ whines. Sighing, Klaus bent down again to scramble through to the other side of the bush, getting scratched up even more for his troubles. “I’m not really interested in seeing the carnage up close, don’t we get enough of that already,” but Ben just waved him closer to the small gap in the hedge rather than the pitiful pile of blood and dark feathers.</p>
<p>“Move that branch,” Ben pointed rather insistently.</p>
<p>“I swear if I get rabies...” Klaus grumbled, snatching the indicated branch out of the way but stopped short in his complaints when he caught sight of what it was hiding. Hidden under the branches was a smashed-up nest of about six stone-grey eggs. “Awe! It was a momma duck! She was protecting her nest! God, this morning went downhill quick.”</p>
<p>“Well that explains why she wouldn’t run away with the rest.” Ben craned his head to look up into the trees and sure enough, they were loaded with the other winged residents of the pond. They all looked like domestic breeds, explains why they all just didn’t fly off. Klaus broke off a twig and started poking around in the gooey shattered remains.</p>
<p>“Look! Two of them aren’t broken!” as Ben peered back down at the devastated nest, two of the eggs towards the back did seem to be intact, at least when compared to the rest. With the twig, Klaus rolled the two eggs out of the mess to get a better look at them. Sadly though, one had not escaped unscathed, while far less damaged than the others it still had a significant crack along its side which caused it to leak clear goo. Luckily the other was in fact undamaged.</p>
<p>Carefully picking it up, Klaus rushed to the pond to wash off the shell to inspect it further, not a crack or dent was found.</p>
<p>“What should we do? Stick it in another nest…” Klaus suggested.</p>
<p>“I wonder if all of these ducks nest on the ground?” Ben pondered more to himself.</p>
<p>“All domesticated ducks nest on the ground.” Klaus mentioned offhandedly still looking over the egg.</p>
<p>“How could you possibly know that?” the spirit asked skeptically.</p>
<p>“Sometimes you get so high off your ass and end up reading a whole book on domesticated birds, don't worry about it.” Ben just blinked at his brother, he decided not to comment.</p>
<p>“So what kind of duck is that?” The ghost wondered.</p>
<p>“No idea,” Ben again merely blinked at his brother, “the nesting thing is the only bit I remembered.”</p>
<p>“Well seeing how none of the others stayed on the ground, I don’t think any of the others have a nest to defend. It’s still really early in spring.” Ben sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.</p>
<p>“We can’t just leave it!” Klaus panicked a little, covering the egg with his other hand, clutching it to his chest.</p>
<p>“We can take it home.” Ben tried to reassure him.</p>
<p>“But, I’m too young to be a mom!” Ben rolled his eyes and without another word turned to head back in the direction of the academy. “Hey wait! Ben!” Klaus scrambled to catch up with his brother. “You think we can really hatch this thing?”</p>
<p>“We’ll read up on it,” Ben glanced over at the small egg still clutched to Klaus’ chest, “just keep it warm for now.”</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t be too hard. Right?” Klaus wagered staring down at the egg, already clearly fond of the thing. Ben huffed in amusement.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nesting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You know you don’t have to constantly hold it, right?” Ben said not looking up from the book laid out in front of him. “You can leave it covered under the towel, the hot-water bottle will keep it warm. Turn.”</p>
<p>Klaus awkwardly stretched out both his hands, which were cradling the newly orphaned egg, and used his pinky finger to turn the page of the book Ben was reading.</p>
<p>It was still fairly early in the morning, the sun’s rays streaming in through the high windows of the mansion’s library had barely warmed the still air, but the two had already combed the collection of books. They had pulled every book they could find on domesticated animals and agriculture they could find.</p>
<p>“I don’t want Edmund to feel lonely.” This got Ben's attention, he finally looked up from his book.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, who?” he questioned.</p>
<p>“Edmund, he looks like an Edmund. What do you think?” Klaus regarded the egg in his hands.</p>
<p>“I think it looks like an egg.” Ben deadpanned.</p>
<p>“Well he needs a name, I’m sure as hell not gonna wait around till he’s 10 to give him one.”</p>
<p>“Granted, but it’s not even born yet. You don’t know its personality, I bet it’s still too early to be able to even tell its sex.” the spirit reasoned.</p>
<p>“It’s just a feeling.” Klaus offered with a shrug.</p>
<p>“Why Edmund? He could be an Egbert.” Ben offered innocently, looking back down at his book.</p>
<p>“What kind of cliché plebeian do you take me for?” Klaus huffed, expression turning sour.</p>
<p>“Turn” Ben chuckled, and the other man obliged him, “Hey, I think I found it.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Klaus moved around the table to look over his brother’s nonexistent shoulder at the picture that accompanied the breed description  “you’re right looks just like his mom, you know, pre-dog mauling.”</p>
<p>“Cayuga Ducks: A hardy breed, developed in 19th century America around Lake Cayuga, originally bred for their meat and high egg production abilities. They are now more commonly utilized as ornamental birds due to their striking black and green iridescent feathers and docile natures.” Ben finished just as Luther and Allison came into the library, deep in the middle of their own discussion. They both stopped short when they caught sight of him standing next to the table full of books, hands still clutched together awkwardly.</p>
<p>“Where were you last night?” Luther questioned.</p>
<p>“Such an accusatory tone, not even a good morning.” Klaus pouted.</p>
<p>“Where were you?” Luther repeated.</p>
<p>“Out...” Klaus answered aloofly.</p>
<p>“All night?” Luther was not impressed.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I wasn’t free to come and go as I pleased.” Klaus grumbled.</p>
<p>“Klaus, we’re just worried. We just want to be sure you're staying safe.” Allison soothed.</p>
<p>“I can handle myself, plus I’ve got Ben dogging me, no need to worry.” Klaus grumbled readjusting Edmund in his hands to place him back under the towel to<br/>
warm him up.</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t have to if you made better choices.” Ben quipped back.</p>
<p>“Shut up.”</p>
<p>Allison caught sight of what her brother was fiddling with; curiosity piqued, she moved to stand next to Klaus, surveying the stacks scattered over the table.</p>
<p>“What’ve you got there?”</p>
<p>“An egg,” Klaus responded, glad for the change of subject “Ben and I found him in that park over by 23rd Avenue after some lady’s crazy dogs attacked his mother.”</p>
<p>Allison peaked under the towel to get a look at the little grey egg. She ran her finger over the prestien smooth surface. A little taken aback by the warmth of it as she was only used to the cool shells of the eggs she used for cooking.</p>
<p>“What do you plan to do with it?”</p>
<p>“Hoping we can hatch it.” Klaus replied happily, clapping his hands together.</p>
<p>“We?” Luther asked looking around Allison to get a better view.</p>
<p>“Not we,” Klaus gestured between the three of them, “Ben and I, he’s been helping me look into how to care for it.”</p>
<p>“What about after that? You really want a pet?” Allison asked tucking the towel back around the egg.</p>
<p>“We have the courtyard, figured he’d be fine there, the fountain isn’t big, but it doesn’t need to be I would think. I can always just release him back into the park if nothing else.”</p>
<p>Allison seemed satisfied by this answer, but Luther looked like he had more to say, however he allowed himself to be dragged off by their sister. His vague grumblings and objections drowned out by Allison’s calls to ‘leave him alone.’ Klaus, happy to be no longer under his siblings’ scrutiny, turned his attention back to the research Ben was still bent over.</p>
<p>“The question is, what do we do now?” Klaus asked.</p>
<p>-- 0 --</p>
<p>Turns out duck eggs only incubate for about a month at about body temperature. It needed regular turning, airing out, and humidity. They really needed to be doted on if not in an automatic incubator, but Ben wasn’t concerned, Klaus seemed up for the challenge, being very unwilling to put the thing down.<br/>
It stayed in his pocket in a little plastic cup lined with yarn. His knitting was still basic at best, but he made a rudimentary sleeve that kept the egg from rattling around. He took to keeping hand warmers in his pocket to be sure it stayed relatively at the same temperature even when he needed both his hands to do something. The only time it wasn’t within his reach was when Klaus settled down to sleep, which was still hit or miss. A heating pad, a hot- water bottle, and a towel were utilized when Klaus did manage to sleep through the night.</p>
<p>They had taken to checking on the eggs progress, using a technique they had read about called candling. Find a bright concentrated flashlight and a dark room, and voilà you can see into the egg! Well, see the shadows in the egg anyway. One of the books they had found had a handy chart showing what they should be looking for, and according to the chart the egg was about 5 days old when they had found it. It had a distinct circle in the center with a little blob with tendrils spreading out from the center. Every few days the egg matched up with what the chart said to expect.</p>
<p>While Luther and Allison knew about this little project from the get-go, the other siblings found out in a more staggered fashion.<br/>
Diego had demanded to know why Klaus was fidgeting in his passenger seat, worried he might be on something. He happily showed him the bundled up egg, but Diego was skeptical that toting an egg around in your pocket was conducive to having a healthy hatchling. Either way he was glad Klaus found something better to do with his time.</p>
<p>Vaunya had walked in on Klaus talking to the egg while he was supposed to be practicing his visualizing exercises to help block out the dead when it all got to be too much. That still wasn’t going exactly to plan. She smiled softy at Klaus when he introduced Edmund to her, happily presenting the egg and rambling about all the stuff he needed to do before he hatched. She offered to help him set up the nesting box Klaus still had packed up in its box. It was nice to have the afternoon laughing with his sister about the fact that neither one of them could read the directions. Diego was eventually roped into helping, gaslighted by the fact that the duckling wouldn’t have anywhere warm to stay if the thing wasn’t put together properly.</p>
<p>Five found out last while in a family meeting. Klaus admittedly had had a rough few nights, and when Five had asked what the hell was so important that he needed to hold it with both hands while also trying to smoke at the same time, Klaus was just hanging on by only a few frayed threads.</p>
<p>“Look, I’ve had about eight to ten voices screaming in the back of my head for the past three nights, one is insisting you’re the reason half her face is missing, I haven’t had a drink in over three months, one of you thought it was a good idea to call a meeting at six in the stupid morning, I really just want to smash my head into this bar right now, and this is my last cigarette. I mean this in the nicest way possible; mind your damn business.”</p>
<p>Five seemed to genuinely ponder this, he finally nodded agreeably.</p>
<p>“Fair enough.”</p>
<p>“Hey, Klaus is right, it's early let’s wait to discuss this later tonight.” Vaunya offered, Allison and Diego seconded the motion much to Luther’s dismay. Klaus allowed his head to drop down on the bar with a dull thud. Vaunya patted at Klaus’ shoulder. “Why don’t we get you back to bed.”</p>
<p>Klaus groaned gratefully as he allowed himself to be shepherded off back to his room, Ben trailing after them. His sister had dropped him off in his bed and carefully placed Edmund back on his warmed water bottle. She disappeared then quickly returned with some pain killers and what must have been some kind of soother. Klaus didn’t know and didn’t care; at this point he was grateful for any little mercy.</p>
<p>All settled down and comfortable, his head swimming in and out of consciousness, a good fifteen minutes must have passed before Klaus heard the small chirps coming from under the towel.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey guys, I'm sorry it's taking so long to get out a new chapter. Believe it or not, I am in fact a teacher, and it is really hard right now with the state of things. I started writing this as a sort of self comfort at the start of the year, but every day more and more things are being added to my plate and I'm sort of buckling under the weight of it all. But I promise this story will be updated and I won't abandon it, I'm just not sure when that will be. November when the holidays kick in is what we might be looking at, hopefully it's not that. Thank you for all the love!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let me know what you guys think! I've noticed a criminally low number of fics for this awesome show, so I thought I'd add in my ideas.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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